St Maarten

[cajuncowgirl13]

Our crew was thinking of going to the airplane beach before our zipline tour. About how far is it from the ship? How much is a taxi? Is it possible to be back before 11 with docking at 8???

 

 

 

 

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[LMaxwell]

Our crew was thinking of going to the airplane beach before our zipline tour. About how far is it from the ship? How much is a taxi? Is it possible to be back before 11 with docking at 8???

 

It is a 15-20 minute ride. Don't know cost of taxis; we used busses that were about $2 per person (have to go to Back Street in town; bus and taxi look identical, have to look at license plate to see which is which). You can buy an unlimited use water taxi pass for $7 that takes you right near where the busses run. Taxis can be gotten from the end of the pier.

 

I think it is totally doable to be back by 11AM for an excursion

[TheTruthCanHurt]

Our crew was thinking of going to the airplane beach before our zipline tour. About how far is it from the ship? How much is a taxi? Is it possible to be back before 11 with docking at 8???

 

 

 

 

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I dont think this is a very realistic scenario...

1. exit ship, take ferrry to town, then find taxi (est 30 min process)

2. take taxi to maho beach ( a strong 20 min depending on traffic)

3. get to beach? but planes dont land every five minutes, so you might not even get to see plane in the short amount of time you are there

4. find taxi back to downtown(30 minutes estimated total time)

5. get to downtown, take water taxi back to port to find your excursion

 

when we went to maho beach last time we spent about two hours there...

it's a really cool thing to see, but not sure you are going to be successful in the time you have allotted. plus you might not get off the ship at 8

[reallyitsmema]

Not really worth going that early and for so little time. The bigger planes are early afternoon so you won't see much. The smaller planes are fun to watch too but nothing like the big jets.

 

If your excursion is at 11, you will need to leave Maho probably around 10am even if you take a taxi back to the ship. Remember you need to leave time to walk from where the taxi drops you off, through the port area and back to where your excursion is meeting.

[nelblu]

I thought I read on another thread that Maho Beach beach has totally eroded.

[TheTruthCanHurt]

I thought I read on another thread that Maho Beach beach has totally eroded.

 

The beach was 100% eroded when I was there the end of september. But the road is still there, the bar is still there, and there is plenty of places to stand as the planes come in. Just more dangerous as it truly is a little baby rock cliff now, not a beach.

 

I do have to say... This was my first time there.. and it was pretty cool.

and I had a great bloody mary at the bar

[OCruisers]

The beach was 100% eroded when I was there the end of september. But the road is still there, the bar is still there, and there is plenty of places to stand as the planes come in. Just more dangerous as it truly is a little baby rock cliff now, not a beach.

 

That's what others have been saying as well.

If you want to go only to watch the planes, it's OK.

[blondie from arizona]

You will just have enough time to get there and back but won't have time to really see any of the planes. Like others have said, the big planes aren't coming in yet that early in the day. It will make your day way too stressful with little reward.

[SheehanDJ]

I thought I read on another thread that Maho Beach beach has totally eroded.

 

Went the first week of October and there was about 3 feet of sand between the rocks and the water so it is slowly coming back.

[CFD130]

What happened to the beach? a storm?

[cruisinwithmaandpa]

The beach was 100% eroded when I was there the end of september. But the road is still there, the bar is still there, and there is plenty of places to stand as the planes come in. Just more dangerous as it truly is a little baby rock cliff now, not a beach.

 

I do have to say... This was my first time there.. and it was pretty cool.

and I had a great bloody mary at the bar

 

With the beach being eroded do they still have loungers there to relax on?

[Goodtime Cruizin]

You could make it there & back by 11am. Having said this, I'm not sure if you would really enjoy it, meaning the time spent to get there & back vs the time spent at Maho Beach. We arrived about 11:30am and left around 12:45pm as we saw quite a few jets land and the big KLM as well.

 

We were there on Oct 28th. The beach is slowly coming back. Here's a pretty good image of the beach that day.

 

I did not see any loungers.

 

BTW... I should have my full review of St.Maarten up in a couple of hours, under the Washey, Washey, Washey thread.

 

[GTO-Girl]

You really can't get the full effect of Maho unless you are there for the bigger jets like Air France.....which don't arrive until early afternoon.

 

I wouldn't bother going just for a short time in the morning....

 

But that's only my opinion.......😬

[fin]

It just ain't the same since they quit the 747s. NOTHING can compare to being on Maho when one took off.

[Philly Steve]

I thought I read on another thread that Maho Beach beach has totally eroded.

 

More of an "airplane day" there than a beach day.:cool:

[Havingfun2010]

Our crew was thinking of going to the airplane beach before our zipline tour. About how far is it from the ship? How much is a taxi? Is it possible to be back before 11 with docking at 8???

 

 

 

 

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You will have no time to complete this. Yes, you can go, and turn around and come back and maybe spend about 30 minutes watching a few small planes land. The only good time to go, is about 10 - 4. The process to get there, get off ship, get taxi, wait for it to fill up, travel will be around 1 hour. Same for coming back. Taxi cost $10.00 per person each way. (might be $9.00)

[island lady]

Agree with other posters. The big Jets (the true WOW factor) do not come in until mid to late afternoon. Be aware that the traffic gets really, really bad going back into town and you could be stuck in a long wait during a traffic jam like we were.

 

All we got to see were the little planes coming in, but it was fun watching them. Had to leave before the big jets came in. The best thing for us was the bar/restaurant there that lists what aircraft is coming in and what time. Our fish sandwiches and rum punch were very good and worth the trip in itself.

[MtnsToSea]

Agreeing with Island Lady, we didn't get to see the huge KLM planes but we did see a few bigger (not island hoppers) and it was worth it. However, the traffic was horrible and had our tour guide not drove like a crazy man we would have been late getting back.

Maho is definitely a must-do for the planes themselves, not the beach, but I would suggest it as part of an island tour.

[docd]

It's one of the unique things you can do while in the Caribbean. I'd try to work it in to your schedule somehow. We did it as part of our tour and it was our last stop. Traffic was pretty crazy, but I cannot recall how long it took to get back to the port. I'd assume that if the big planes are coming in in the afternoon that's when all the guides will bring their groups there. So it will likely be less busy in the morning but still worth the visit.

[loubetti]

The bar has a sign outside that lists departures and arrivals. Beware of departures with the "heavies" (lots of video on that). Some folks (idiots) like to "fly the fence", that is the chain link fence behind the runway. Grab on, hold on, and, well...:eek:

 

Otherwise if on the beach across the street you could get blown off into the water. The blowing sand doesn't help matters either.

 

The pilots do not care about you, they need every foot of runway to get off and clear the mountains, and when a 747 powers up with some 200,000+ pounds of thrust, well figure what can happen!:eek:

[Goodtime Cruizin]

It just ain't the same since they quit the 747s. NOTHING can compare to being on Maho when one took off.

 

KLM... flew in the big boy this past Oct 28th :D

[Big_G]

 

We were there on Oct 28th. The beach is slowly coming back. Here's a pretty good image of the beach that day.

 

 

We were told by some locals that the beach comes and goes by the seasons and that it's usually full restored by December.